We have been on a cruise with limited (expensive) internet, so apologies to everyone I haven’t answered. I’ll be catching up over the next few days. There were no limitations on photo taking though so you have been warned. There are lots of photos to come! Our cruise went to Cartagena, Columbia, Caracao, Bonaire, and Aruba, so I will post a bit about each location.
The ship left from Colon so we went with another couple to Panama City where we spent the night. Then, the next morning, we drove to Colon to board the ship. I was interested to see a little of Colon since I’d never been there before. I had heard that it is a more depressed area with higher unemployment, crime, and more problems than other parts of Panama. There also tend to be more dark skinned people, mainly descendants of Jamaican canal workers brought in by the US. The little I saw did not contradict what I had heard.
Panama City is always interesting. As always, there is construction everywhere and activity everywhere you look. We stayed at the Hotel Milan which I had heard about for some time, but was new to me. It was a nice hotel in a good location near lots of stores and restaurants, so walking around the neighborhood was interesting. The hotel was fine, and the room was large and comfortable but the poor air conditioner was nearing retirement and wasn’t quite up to the job. I usually choose hotels that include breakfast, but we had a very adequate breakfast in the restaurant on the ground floor.
I had some fun taking photos in Panama City of vendors, dodging traffic to sell various things.
Once we got out of the city the trip to Colon was fairly quick and easy on good roads all the way. We did have to go through part of Colon on our way to the port though. The city was very crowded and traffic crawled along, giving me a chance to take a few photos along the way.
We boarded the ship on Saturday in the early afternoon. The ship left port in the late afternoon, traveled all night and docked in Cartegena, Columbia on Sunday morning.
I have friends that took this same cruise in March. They had a wonderful time and inexpensive to boot!
LikeLike
We got such a great price we couldn’t resist! And I was very interested to see these new places.
LikeLike
How exciting. I can’t wait to see your photos of Cartegena. Isn’t it wonderful to be able to travel? I know that if we were retired and living in the states, we’d never be able to afford to travel. We’re leaving in two weeks for a month’s visit to Ecuador..thanks to my new Social Security checks. 🙂
LikeLike
Oh yes, isn’t that the truth. We’d be lucky to get by and there wouldn’t be any extra for things like this. I’ll be interested to hear about your Ecuador trip. I want to go there too!
LikeLike
Great pics Kris.
Colon looks a bit cleaner then our visit in 2004.
LikeLike
That’s good to hear, and hopefully it will continue in that direction.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the pics 🙂
LikeLike
So Great!!!! Glad you had a good time. Love that you share all your pictures. It’s all so exciting!
LikeLike
Thanks so much!
LikeLike
Hi Kris and Joel. I have been for bussiness to Cartagena in 1980. Beautiful colonial city already in those days, but it must have been restored à lot by how. You will like Aruba, Curacao and very small Bonaire. Almost everyone speak English on these islands and of course some Dutch. But their day language is Papiamento, which is a mix of Spanish, Portiguese and African dialect. You
will understand it. Bon Dia! Buenos días. In 1980 I had to visit in Colon at the dirty old free zone
some customers. AND a little naked boy standing on a balcony was pissing and it landed on my head. Most of the black people in Colon are from Jamaica, Barbados and St. Lucia.
LikeLike
Most of the people in the islands spoke three or four languages!
Be careful of balconies in Colon!
LikeLike
Great pics! Colon intrigues me for some reason. I watched a few videos and the architecture is so fascinating it would be interesting to see it in person. I can’t wait to see the rest of your pics!
LikeLike
It is an interesting place and I wouldn’t mind seeing a bit more of it too.
LikeLike